Founders (book)
Founders (Founders Part 1:Libera and Part 2: Den'verden) was the 6th installment in the Chronicles of Libera. It was originally intended to be a one-shot novel, but because of its length and printing restrictions on Lulu.com, the author separated the book into two separate novels that still tie in together. Part 1 was published in 2009, and Part 2 in 2010. Book covers The front cover of Founders Part 1 featured Ayaka Di'rutia sitting on a ledge facing the moon in the background. Her bow is clearly silhouetted, along with some of her other weaponry. The back cover featured Ayaka once more in white against black, holding Elli in her hand as she ran. The front cover of Founders Part 2 featured Derajk Dragonhart in her form of energy due to the Gift Dragonhart, standing on a statue of twin serpents spewing water from their mouths as she held her tribrand to the lightning. Around her was a multitude of Molouks cheering with her. The back cover featured Swift and Wind-Rider Kesral in a pose that suggests their strong, loving bond as brother and sister. The Gift Kesral is apparent on Wind-Rider's chest, and Kesral is wearing the armor he created from the leviathan Tellin. Plot Summary Part 1 War stirred in Tyrell, and after a failed attempt to fulfill an alliance, Derajk Dragonhart returned to Ramirra wounded. Another Molouk, Swift Kesral, struggled with his identity as an assassin, and after faking an attempt to kill his sister, Wind-Rider Kesral, he sought forgiveness from Zarem. Zarem named Swift and his sister Founders and ordered Swift to command Derajk to return to Tyrell to fulfill her alliance with S'irelli. She was persuaded when Swift morphed wings, and returned to Tyrell while her father, Mreeye Dragonhart, dealt with political uprising in Ramirra. Swift turned his attention to Helen Theras and pursued her across Ramirra. Swift ended up in southern Ramirra in Del, where he met Acsa-lan Dree and his niece, Pio-an Dree. He defeated the mighty leviathan Tellin, and received awards of armor and and a weapon from Del's citizens, which he donned throughout the rest of his journeys. Swift leaves Del by boat and finds Helen on a nome, where he tricked her into riding on the boat headed to Hope Island. They were dropped off on Hope Island, where they began to build a real friendship. Together they carved a boat and headed southward. ]Wind-Rider went inward in Ramirra, meets Xel and Daruuk, and then met Io Phobos a second time. Together the Molouks help rebuild the ravaged city of Tyr after it is attacked by the Ghiorholt Pack. She met Derajk there and travels with the queen across the sea. On the way they met the wizard Snow, who got them into a scuffle. Wind-Rider accidentally teleported with him to the Gateway Isles. They form an uneasy teacher-student relationship, in which Snow taught Wind-Rider the history of the prophet Zayer. They eventually traveled northward to a small fishing town and come across warriors from the Academy. Wind allowed herself to be captured by Iurre Alon while Snow fought with their ship briefly. Wind and Snow became separated, and she started her journey eastward with Iurre and his students. Another heroine, Ayaka Di'rutia, recieved a command with her unwanted husband, Skandar Theral, to travel to Y'uri to speak with the koran. She bade farewell to Farrell Di'rutia and eventually fell in love with her husband. S'irelli orders Ayaka to go to northern Tyrell to find Hräer Wǽreking, and Skandar to go to Waere to apprehend Grif Paldo. Ayaka traveled through the Black Mountains, and after being attacked by Jothe Wǽrepanther, she met Cairn the Bloodholder and Qwen. Eventually she parted from them and headed north to find the sorcerer Gyrval and killed Jothe along the way. Skandar traveled to Wǽre and chased the rebellious Grif Paldo southward, meeting friendly forces along the way. Skandar's soldiers eventually halted the march of Grif, and Skandar and Grif fought. Skandar threw Grif off a cliff and sought transport to Tyrell from southern Wǽre. After Io and Wind-Rider were separated, Io was caught by the dragon Daruuk and spared from being a meal when he revealed his relationship to Wind-Rider. Daruuk took them first to Obelisk, relating a history of the dragonriders along the way. When they made it to Zanoll, they went to Taylor's Canyon and met Upiooni. Upiooni was displeased that Daruuk brought Io, for Io needed to make an oath to be a servant for the rest of his life in Zanoll to live. Io agreed to stay and learn of the dragonriders, and began to adapt to a life in Taylor's Canyon. Io eventually learned of the enmity between Upiooni and the Dirin Lhiuun. Her madness over the Dirin drove Io from the Canyon, and Xel persuaded him to let her go with him. After a strenuous journey, Ayaka found Morgin, the city of Gyrval, and found rest in the home of Tree. Gyrval and several guests come to Tree's home for dinner and to discuss Tree's seal-hunting business. Gyrval appeared to recognized the ring Adiemus on Ayaka's hand, and later sent word for her to go to his mansion. Tree was terrified over the ordeal, since Gyrval was a powerful sorcerer and guardian, but Ayaka was eager to meet him. Part 2 Part 2 began when Blacktongue Trithor fought in Canyon City and overthrew it with the Ghiorholt Pack of Assassins. He apprehended Mreeye Dragonhart, but Mreeye escaped and Trithor took the throne with some of his loyal assassins. Skandar's Story Skandar was caught in a storm at sea after fighting Grif Paldor and ended up stranded in Zanoll. He met Io Phobos, who freed him from imminent slavery by the hands of Morva'i, and he traveled with Io and Xel Fleym back to Taylor's Canyon. They discovered everyone had fled to the southern shores of the island. Xel found a newly hatched dragon in the caves and claimed him as her own, naming him Naipha. Io and Skandar separated from Xel when Daruuk and a brown dragon took her south. Skandar and Io ran into Lhiuun, who gave them into the hands of humans. She used her powerful grath magic to bind Skandar's Loran runes so they bound his arms together. He and Io were taken to Obelisk, where Luna summoned a massive cloud of fog so the two could escape their captors. Skandar eventually found the black pillar of the demon Alalt and was persuaded by the demon to touch the pillar. The demon escaped and took the chosen one's form, that of a male elf. It caused a rockslide to injure Io, and Skandar and Io escaped the demon and headed north, where a contingent of Unia'a had landed. There Io and Skandar separated, and Skandar headed north. Ayaka and Derajk's Story Ayaka went to meet Gyrval in his home, which had a magicked corridor. She used her sword to unlock a stairway to the lower atrium. There she found out Gyrval was not an elf at all, but a griffin. She explained why she had come to the north, which made Gyrval a bit angry due to his love for the now deceased Rana, but he agreed to help her. He unlocked the powers of Adiemus and Ayaka turned into a waere human when she wore it. Gyrval then proceeded to train her in the ways of the waere in order to sneak into their forcers and find the Waereking. When she was ready, she left Morgin and went to Mallad, where she joined a council of nhea-rähm. She found out several non-human traitors to S'irelli and Derajk were there. Afterward she spoke to Hräer, who tried to seduce her before she resisted and he dismissed her. Afterward, Ayaka scouted the city and had little opportunity to listen to Hräer again. She found her father in a dungeon and in desperation transformed back into her elven self. Hräer found her, killed her father, and knocked her out. When Ayaka awoke, she thought she was in her home near the sea and was with Skandar. "Skandar" persuaded her that she was having bad dreams about the war. As time passed, Ayaka noticed how strange Skandar was acting towards her, and her suspicions grew about the real truth of dreams and reality. Ayaka stabbed "Skandar" with her sword, and the illusion disappeared into that of a ruined castle and Skandar became Hräer. Hräer, to save his life, transformed into an arak and took Ayaka into the air. She saw a stone griffin come to her aid, S'irelli inside his new Loran beast, and the Loran rutia attacked. Ayaka fell from Hräer's paw at one point, but he caught her in his mouth on the right side of her body, his teeth biting into flesh and bone. S'irelli drove Hräer to the earth, and Ayaka fell away again in the process. She hurried to where they had crashed and stabbed Hräer in his Burning while he was transforming back into a human. She left her sword in him to keep him put, and she and S'irelli headed into the Black Mountains. A great bolt of lightning split the mountain in half, and when they went in, S'irelli was knocked aside by an enormous storm within. Ayaka fell once more and confronted a black pillar, which held the demon Jarkul. She touched the pillar and the demon took Ayaka's form. It was about to attack Ayaka when Derajk Dragonhart, a Founder with the Gift of Speed, attacked the demon and gave Ayaka and S'irelli a chance to escape. Derajk eventually subdued the demon and carried Ayaka out of the maelstrom and back to Brigadell fort for recovery. Jarkul found Hräer laying on the earth and cursed him, destroying Ayaka's sword and leaving Hräer as a monster, half-human, half-arak. Her curse would follow him through the decades, causing him to be reborn over and over without true respite in death. Derajk's journey Derajk had her own journey before she met up with Ayaka. In Tyrell, Derajk met with S'irelli and they renewed their friendship. S'irelli showed her something he had created, which later turned out to be a Loran Rutia, and she agreed to take her forces into the Black Mountains on the trail of Ayaka. While there, Derajk met with Cairn, where she reluctantly agreed to renew his heartgift. They left his forge and traveled northward to the open plains. They traveled west along the edge of the Black Mountains, and then into a glacier, while S'irelli moved his forces towards Mallad. Derajk separated from her forces on divine inspiration and traveled north to find S'irelli, who had made a bad maneuver in trying to attack Mallad. On the way she gained her Gift and freed a city from the waere, killing the waere leader in the process. Wind-Rider's Story Wind-Rider traveled with Iurre Alon, initially as a prisoner, into Adega. They went to Gate Guard, where Iurre let her travel freely. They and his students traveled by cockatrice to the city of Duque, the seat of power for the Academy. Iurre brought Wind-Rider to Galdor, the Unia'a emperor of the Academy, in exchange for Skyfang. He consequently lost Wind-Rider's trust, and she was imprisoned and implicitly tortured. Iurre later freed Wind-Rider and left Adega with her, traveling to the eastern fringes of Hakor. There they came to the Citadel, a being in it calling Wind-Rider, and Iurre followed her. They found in the citadel a black pillar, and Wind-Rider touched it and released the demon Brtil. All three of them fought, and the demon threw dark magic at Wind-Rider. It broke through her helm-sight and incapacitated her. Iurre carried Wind-Rider from the Citadel as the demon began to call up a massive storm of mist. Iurre took Wind-Rider to safety and removed her helm, finding that half of her face and head was missing. She died in his arms, and he buried her in a pool of water before heading westward before the mists overtook him. Swift's Story Swift and Helen became shipwrecked in Meowwinn and separated. He lost most of his memory and traveled across the desert. He found a domestic freit and rode it to a large, walled, black city filled with dark-skinned humans. He was caught and forced to fight in an arena pit with Helen Theras and another human, where they fought a large, lizard-like shadow beast that spat black sand. Swift defeated the beast, and he and Helen went to meet the Gladiator. The Gladiator told them about the Huruk and the demon Charoq, and tricked Swift into believing that going to the black pillar prison would actually strengthen the bonds on the demon. He was also blackmailed to go, otherwise the Gladiator would do harm to Helen. Swift and Helen were thus separated, and Helen started her journey back to Ramirra. Swift flew to the southern mountains and located the black pillar the Gladiator had described, and he touched it and gave the incantation the Gladiator had taught him. However, instead of keeping the demon imprisoned, his touch released it, and it took his form. It wanted to kill him, but Swift knew from vision and inspiration that another was supposed to kill Charoq. Charoq roared in frustration as Swift flew away, and the demon summoned a wall of wind. Aftermath In Tyrell Jarkul cut off northern Tyrell from the south with the Thunderwall, so the war with the weare was essentially over. Ayaka recovered in Brigadell and expressed her despair in failing S'irelli for not slaying Hräer. He did not blame her. Ayaka had a chance to thank Derajk for saving her. When Ayaka had recovered enough to walk and move, she found her right arm slightly paralyzed from Hräer's bite, and could no longer draw a bow. She had horrendous scars up and down the front and back of her torso. She traveled with several hundred soldiers to Y'uri, and participated in trials in the North Citadel concerning the war. Skandar landed on Tyrell's shores and took Rath'le Ethil's Loran Uvpilac from its cave and carried his soldiers north to the Black Mountains. He left the Loran beast in the mountains and traveled to Y'uri. He met with koran S'irelli and reported his mission concerning Grif Paldor. S'irelli had him write a detailed report. Cairn the Bloodholder gave his glass ball to S'irelli during this time, which turned out to be Uni'a Refulan. Skandar wrote his report and came to his parents' home and collapsed on his bed. When Ayaka awoke that same night, she found his head laying on her stomach and she got up. He awoke soon after, and they embraced lovingly. Both Skandar and Ayaka attended more war trials, and Revan of the community security accused Ayaka of being a traitor. Ayaka explained how Hräer had tricked Ayaka into thinking he was Skandar. Skandar took this the wrong way and was afraid Ayaka loved Hräer, but Ayaka made it explicitly known that she didn't love him. She later showed Skandar her scars, and they shared a loving kiss to fully seal the truth. During the trials, Cairn released several Molouks. using his Gift of Power given to him sometime outside the text. Later Hakaan from Hakor, led by a dark lupogryph named Blackpearl, took their lupogryph prisoners with them from the Swordtip to be judged in their homeland. This was all in spite of the elven council wanting to punish them themselves and judgeAgathier raising his crystal judge sword to them. Cairn left to Westhaven to give his apprentice Qwen a home and to take a boat back to Ramirra. Helen's Gift On her way to Ramirra, Helen had a divine conversation with Luna, who granted Helen the Gift of Stealth to use to better Ramirra's unbalanced political situation, and to be a guardian of Ramirra. The Brewing Storm Derajk Dragonhart arrived in Ramirra with her Eraniin and met up with her father Mreeye and with her aunt Agar Dragonhart. She also met with Iurre Alon, who carried Wind-Rider's Gift and told Derajk of her death. They discussed Ramirra's dire political situation with the Ghiorholt running rampant through the land and seizing cities. Derajk took her soldiers to march to Canyon City, and she and Iurre took a northern route into the city. Meanwhile, Swift and Helen also return to Ramirra. Helen is captured by the Ghiorholt and freed through a prisoner trade with the townspeople. Helen leaves and meets up with Io, and together they travel to Duan-Pialan, where they meet the people of Swift's hometown. They travel east towards Canyon City. Swift himself stays with Pio-an and her uncle, and they travel to Canyon City. A battle ensues in Canyon City between the Ghiorholt and tribespeople and civilians of Ramirra. Swift and Acsa-lan sneak into the waterfall cliff caves, and the Ghiorholt blast a hole into the cavern wall to get in. Swift fights ferociously with his wings, but Acsa-lan accidentally falls off the cliff trail to his death. Helen confronts Blacktongue Trithor, but is knocked out of his watch tower. Derajk and Iurre arrive in Canyon City, and Derajk confronts Blacktongue in the castle ruins of royalty. He destroys her tribrand and runs away over the wall. She goes after him and finds him going through the waterfall lagoon at the bottom of the enormous cliff overlooking the city. A massive earthquake rips through the canyon, splitting much of the floor in half and destroying the stabling aspects of the cliff. The lake atop tips over the edge, and the blade of the falls hits Trithor, killing him instantly, and sweeps Derajk into the ravine. After the battle ends, Derajk is lifted out of the ravine by a dragon. Dragonriders had arrived to take back their stiua, appearing sometime during Derajk's scuffle with Trithor, and Helen willingly gives the stones back. The riders let Derajk keep several of the stones before they leave Zanoll. Iurre meets Swift in the cliff cavern and gives Swift Wind-Rider's Gift. Swift soon after has a vision of Wind-Rider in Gririan-ral, and she explains that she will always be with him. When Swift wakes and looks at the machine again, he realizes her spirit is in the machine, and she she hasn't truly "died." Conclusion The Ramirrans become re-established in peace, with Derajk remaining as their queen. Soon after, Hakaan arrive and give Ramirra the harp. The construction of the holy temple dedicated to Zarem and Luna begins on Lua'an's cliff. Iurre plants Skyfang on the highest peak in the mountains and dies shortly thereafter, as the trident prolonged his life unnaturally and he was well past perishing age. In his honor, Swift Kesral names the Founders Draconites, in honor of the first Draconite clan in Adega. About forty years after the first E'lsra, S'irelli, Ayaka, Skandar, and Avandar Theral arrive in Ramirra to pay their respects, and so the koran can cement the E'lsra alliance with Derajk. The Unia'a leave soon after, with Swift and Io watching. They mention Helen, implying she has died and joined her Gift, and how the Draconites are on Gift Search. They then vanish into the land. Category:Books